476 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[Dk:cember I, 1882. 



I might further observe that as our experiments are con- 

 ducted with more care and attention than could possibly 

 be given to crops grown under the ordinary operations o'f 

 agricidture, I do not think it would be sate to reckon on 

 a smaller loss than that which we have incurred, and the 

 probability is that it might be much larger. 



The general conclusion to be drawn from these experi- 

 ments, as well as from those upon root crops in general, 

 such as turnips, mangels, and sugar beet, is that they do 

 not obtain their Nitrogen from the atmosphere ; and that, 

 when supplied with that substance, the amount recovered 

 in the crop is very much less than that supplied in the 

 manure. — American AarlcidiuHst, 



DuKAEiLiTY OF INVERTED Oak Posts. — Experiments have 

 proved that oak posts put in the ground in the same position 

 as that in which the oak grew — i.e., top upwards — were 

 rotten in 12 years, while their neighbours, cut from the 

 same tree, and placed top downwards in the soil, showed 

 no signs of decay for several years afterwards. The theory 

 is that the capillary tubes in the trees are so adjusted as 

 to oppose the rising moisture when the wood is inverted. 

 — The Garden. 



Grafting the Chestnut. — Many who find trees, the 

 nuts of which are unusually fine and large, naturally de- 

 sire to propagate them. They try the methods used with 

 ordinary fruit trees, and rarely succeed, and we are fre- 

 quently asked how the grafting should be done. In 

 Europe the method known as flute grafting or budiling is 

 generally followed, but one who has had no practice with 

 this, would be very apt to fail, as it often does in the hands 

 of .skilled workmen. E. Clausen describes in a recent 

 " Revue Hort.icole, " a method whicli has given him such 

 good results that he makes it known. He grafts in the 

 latter part of June, or when the .shoots of the season 

 are sufficiently mature, as it is these which serve for both 

 stock and ciou. He makes an incision down through the 

 centre of the terminal bud, and about an inch and a 

 half long. The cion is a shoot of the current season, 

 coutainiug a terminal bud only; it is cut wedge-.shape, 

 aud carefully inserted in the cleft of the stock. AYhen 

 the cion is properly fitted, it is carefully wound with 

 woollen yarn, waxiug of any kind being thought un- 

 necessary. To shade the graft several of the leaves on 

 the stock below the insertion are brought together and 

 tied above it in such a manner as to afford it protection 

 from the sun and wind. Mr. C. considers this shading 

 essential to success ; and it is all the more necessary with 

 us. — America n Ai/ricultitrist. 



Mulching. — The great benefit accruing from this practice 

 can scarcely be over-rated, as not only does it prevent 

 red-spider from attakiug the leaves of Vines and Peach 

 trees, but it keeps Peas and Beans and other vegetables 

 growing and bearing when they would otherwise fail. 

 To water without it is next to useless, as the washing 

 the ground receives causes it to crack open and let in 

 air, and not only that, but roots are attracted to the 

 surface, where they quickly suffer and die, whereas when 

 shaded by a mulching tlio feeders nndtiply at a rapid 

 rate, and they remain healthy and full of life and activity 

 under the covering. For Vine bordei-s nothing is better 

 than very short stable manure, which lies light, aud though 

 not over-rich the Vines may be fed in another way by 

 giving them plenty of sewage. This is always better than 

 laying on close solid matter, such as cow-dung, which, after 

 it becomes caked together, is nearly impervious to air, and 

 air is essential to the soil of a Vine border to maintain 

 the roots in good health. To break up the surface and 

 dig manure into their borders, as some do, is a great 

 mistake, and all that should be done is just to hoe the 

 surface with a hoe to destroy weeds, and then pop on 

 the mulching at once. If this be carried out and a thorough 

 soaking given when Vines are growing and swelling a crop 

 the effect may be seen at once at the rapid increase in 

 the size of the berries, and the same with Peaches and 

 Nectarines or young Apples and Pears, which without 

 help when taxed with a crop, often look very mucli dis- 

 tressed with their loads. Another crop that pays well 

 for mulching is Celery, which in dry hot seasons seldom 

 if ever does well without it. Tomatos, again, are freatly 

 benefited by its help, as they set with more freedom and 

 bear the finest of fruit.— J. Ssspj-sni).— Gardeners' Chronicle. 



The Mango Feuit (Manyifera indica) it may be 

 presumed in .an unripe state, is being tried in the United 

 States in medicine. Dr. Linguist, who has introduced it, 

 states {Practitioner, p, 220) that it is an astringent with a 

 special tonic action on the mucous membrane, aud that 

 in the treatment of hemorrhage and muco-puruleut dis- 

 charges he knows of no equal to it. — Pharmaceutical 

 Journdl. 



Lemon Juice. — In an interesting account of the chemical 

 industries of Italy (Chemilcer Zeituni/), the surprising fact is 

 pointed out that .although lemon juice is made in many places 

 in Sicily, when it represented in ISSl a value of nearly three 

 millions of francs, the whole being exported, chiefly to Eng- 

 land aud France, yet in Italy no one appears at present to 

 be engaged in the manufacture of citric acid. Up to 1880 

 one factory existed at Messina, but when that town was 

 made a free port it had to stop operations. — Ibid. 



OoCA. — In the h'oston Medical aud Suryical Journal (p. 

 221), Dr. A. P. Mason, gives an account of experiments made 

 on himself with coca. He has arrived at the conclusion 

 that coca had a good effect upom him both mentally and 

 physically; that it almo.st always produced exhilaration aud 

 without exception prevented fatigue. This he believes to 

 be due to stimulation of the nervous sy.stem and retardation 

 in some way of the process of metamorphosis, so that 

 work is done with less expenditure of force with than 

 without coca. The experiments were made with the fluid 

 extract. Coca leaves arc so very variable in quality that 

 experiments made with them cannot be said to be so s.atis- 

 factory as it made with either the crystalline alkaloid, 

 cocaine, or the volatde oil,hygrine. — Iliid. 



Baron F. Mueller, the well-known botanist, Director 

 of the Botanical Gardens at Melbourne, defends, in the 

 Gardeners' Chronicle, p. 278, his use of the words "algs" 

 and "tungs" instead of "fungi" and "alg.'e," on the ground 

 of comformity with the terms mosses and lichens. In the 

 same way he uses the word *'eucalypts'' ju.st as we say 

 "elms" instead of "ulmuses." His use of the diminutive 

 termination "let" in ".stalklet," "fruitlet," etc., and other 

 alterations proposed by him, are, it may be hoped, the 

 commencement of a change of foreign botanical terms 

 into more easily understood English ones, a change which 

 would certainly render the study more easy and pleasant 

 than it is at present, and tend to remove the reproach 

 that botany is a science of hard names. — Ibid. 



Sponges. — The Weekly Dru;/ JVews (Sept. 1, p. 3) contains 

 an article ou sijonge fishery in the Bahamas, from which it 

 would appear that the Governor of those Lslands has 

 approved a law passed in a special session of the Legislature 

 to prevent the use of di'edges, which have for some time 

 past been used with considerable success instead of the 

 pole and hooks. The penalty for violation of the law is 

 a fine of 100 dollars and confiscation of the vessel on 

 which a dredge is found. The law seems to have been 

 passed under pressure of popular clamour, and in forget- 

 fuluess of the fact that there are many sponges to be 

 obtained at a depth where the use of the pole and hooks 

 is impracticable, and that the use of the dredge woidd 

 have increased the trade without affecting vested interests 

 had its use been confined to fishing at such a depth. 

 How for this law will affect the price of sponges remains 

 to be seen. — Ibid. 



Burns and Scalds — Ijtpoktant Remedy. — Bicarbonate 

 of soda, that is the common cooking soda, for most 

 kinds of burns. The soda, and the carbonic acid so 

 readily set at liberty from it, have anesthetic, antiseptic, 

 and disinfecting properties — all highly beneficial for burns. 

 For slight burns cover all the injured parts with a layer 

 of powdered soda. For deeper burns, but where the skin 

 is not broken, dip linen rags in a solution made by dis- 

 snhdng about one-third of an ounce of the soda in a pint 

 of water; lay the rags on and keep them moist with 

 the solution. For very severe burns, followed by suppuration 

 (formation of pus), apply the rags in the same way, keep- 

 ing them moist; but frequently exchange them when dry 

 for fresh ones, and carefully wash off, with the soda 

 solution, any matter that has accumulated underneath, so 

 that it may not be absorbed into .and poison the blood. 

 Leading Europeau medical journals give numerous instances 

 in which, by the above treatment, extensive burns of very 

 severe character have healed speedily, leaving littV- scar. 

 — American Agriculturist. 



